This disclosure relates generally to the manufacture of structural components using composite fiber lamination processes, and more specifically to the formation of composite fiber laminate structures having contoured profiles.
The structural performance advantages of composites, such as, to name only a few, carbon fiber epoxy and graphite bismaleimide (BMI) materials, are widely known in the aerospace industry. Aircraft designers have been attracted to composites because of their superior stiffness, strength, and radar absorbing capabilities, for example. As more advanced materials and a wider variety of material forms have become available, aerospace usage of composites has increased. Automated tape layer technology has developed to become a widely used automated process for fabrication of large composite structures such as wing, without limitation, fuselage and empennage assemblies. Current composite fiber placement and tape laying technology has been improved to offer flexibility in process capabilities required for a wide variety of aerospace components. As composite lay-up processes improve with advances in automation new and innovative applications will be defined.
The fabrication of certain components from composite materials, such as support beams, frames and stiffeners for aircraft or vehicles is desired for reduced weight and improved corrosion and fatigue resistant capabilities. Such components typically would be laid-up with plies of unidirectional carbon fiber composite materials, with plies oriented differently from one another depending on the structural properties desired.
It has been observed, however, that some of the plies may wrinkle during the fabrication of certain components having non-uniform cross sections along the length of the part. This may result in the component having a varying, and discontinuous, outer contour or profile along its length. Such wrinkles are undesirable and have prevented widespread use and adoption of composite materials to fabricate components that may be prone to wrinkling of the composite materials.